Automatic positioning system for filling device of filling machine

ABSTRACT

An automatic positioning system is provided for a filling device of a filling machine, wherein the filling device has a plurality of filling head mounted on a support to fill a plurality of containers positioned on filling positions with a material. The automatic positioning system comprises a first automatic positioning system for controlling the support to shift along a vertical linear route to and fro and positioning the support at a desired position in the linear route. The first automatic positioning system further controls a rising speed of the support. The automatic positioning system also comprises a second automatic positioning system for controlling a container-supporting unit to provide the containers with a supporting force.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Technical Field

The present invention relates to filling machines for filling containerswith liquid materials that includes liquid or pastes with variously highor low viscosities. The present invention improves a filling device ofthe filing machine by providing an automatic positioning solutionthereto.

2. Description of Related Art

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, plural filling heads 10 of a conventionalmachine are mounted on a support 11 and capable of shifting horizontallyfor aligning to openings of plural containers 13 positioned onpredetermined filling locations, respectively. Each of the filling head10 is communicated to a material source (no shown) by way of a materialfeeding pipe 14 so as to pour material into the container 13. Thesupport 11 is assembled to a moving unit 15, which is controlled by amanual screw 16 so as to shift vertically. The support 11 may be definedat a null position (a) by a user where a feeding nozzle 101 of thefilling head 10 is slightly upper than the opening of the container 13so that a conveyer 12 can convey the container 13 to the fillinglocation without clashing with the feeding nozzle 101. The support 11 isfurther controlled by a power cylinder 17 so as to automatically descendto a filling lowstand (b) where the feeding nozzle 101 inserts into thecontainer 13 and approaches the bottom of the container 13. At thefilling lowstand (b), the feeding nozzle 101 starts to pour the materialto the container 13, and meanwhile, the power cylinder 17 rises thesupport 11 in the manner that the support 11 returns to the nullposition (a) at the time that the filling operation is finished.

During the filling operation, when the feeding nozzle 101 departs fromthe liquid surface for a particular distance, the risk that lather isgenerated in the material can be significantly increased. The foresaidconventional filling machine may have such problem because the steppingvalue of the power cylinder 17 (or the cam system) it implements isfixed. In other words, the displacement value of the support 11, i.e.that distance between the point (a) and the point (b), is unadjustable.Thus, for making the conventional filling machine applicable tocontainers with various heights, the stepping value of the powercylinder 17 (or the cam system) is typically set for agreeing with theshortest commercially-available container. Therefore, when the fillingmachine is used to fill a relatively higher container, the support 11 atthe lowstand (b) positions the feeding nozzle 101 excessively far awayfrom the bottom of the container, resulting in lather generated at theinitial stage of the filling operation.

Besides, constant material-feeding speed may result in different risingspeeds of the water level of the material in the container. Upon thisprinciple, when the conventional devices is applied to a known contouredbottle, the rising speed of the water level of the material in thebottle may vary with the variation of the diameter of the bottle.However, the rise of the support 11 controlled by the power cylinder 17is not flexible to meet the rising speeds. Therefore, at a place wherethe diameter of the bottle is grater, the rising speed of the waterlevel is smaller than the rising speed of the support 11. As a result,the feeding nozzle 101 departs from the liquid surface for a distanceand lather is consequently generated in the material.

Moreover, the conveyer 12 is equipped with a pair of short revetmentsfor fixing a short wide-mouth container 13. However, a tall narrow-mouthbottle, such as a mineral water bottle or a PET bottle, may have problemto be fixed by the short revetments 121 and be liable to tilt and shakeduring conveying or filling operation resulting in spill of materials.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present discloses an automatic positioning solution for a fillingdevice in order to solve the problems of the prior arts.

An automatic positioning system is provided for a filling device of afilling machine, wherein the filling device has a plurality of fillinghead mounted on a support to fill a plurality of containers positionedon filling positions with a material. The automatic positioning systemcomprises a first automatic positioning system controlling the supportto shift along a vertical linear route to and fro and positioning thesupport at a desired position in the linear route. The first automaticpositioning system further controls the rising speed of the support. Theautomatic positioning system also comprises a second automaticpositioning system for controlling a container-supporting unit toprovide containers with a supporting force.

It is one objective of the present invention to provide the firstautomatic positioning system that allows the null position and thefilling lowstand of the filling head to be adjusted according to theheights of various containers. As the filling lowstand is the positionwhere the feeding nozzle of the filling head approaches the bottom ofthe container, the disclosed subject matter makes a filling machinesubstantially applicable to fill containers with various heights. Duringthe filling operation, the first automatic positioning system furthercontrols the rising speed of the filling head so that the filling headcan rise corresponding to the rising speed of the water level of thematerial filled in the container. Thereby, a balance state is achievedthat the feeding nozzle is kept from departing from the liquid surfaceof the material while the material is prevented from lather. Theso-called rising speed of the filling head may be constant orphased-variational. Particularly, the phased-variational rising speed ofthe filling head is applicable to a contoured bottle while maintains thementioned balanced state during the filling operation. Further, as thefilling head of the first automatic positioning system can be digitallypositioned, the disclosed subject mater is compatible to fillingcontainers with various heights so that the disadvantage of theconventional filling machines that accessory replacement and complicatedadjustment have to be conducted for the filling machine is applied todiverse bottles.

It is another objective of the present invention to provide the secondautomatic positioning system to control the container-supporting unit soas to provide a narrow mouth bottle with a supporting force and keep thebottle standing still at the filling position without tilting orshaking.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention as well as a preferred mode of use, further objectives andadvantages thereof, will best be understood by reference to thefollowing detailed description of an illustrative embodiment when readin conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a front view of a conventionally filling machine;

FIG. 2 is a front view of the conventionally filling machine showing themotion thereof;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of one embodiment of the filling machineaccording to the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a front view of the filling machine according to the presentinvention;

FIG. 5 is a side view of the filling machine according to the presentinvention;

FIG. 6 is one side view of the filling machine according to the presentinvention showing the motion thereof;

FIG. 7 is another side view of the filling machine according to thepresent invention showing the motion thereof;

FIG. 8 is another side view of the filling machine according to thepresent invention showing the motion thereof;

FIG. 9 is further another side view of the filling machine according tothe present invention showing the motion thereof;

FIG. 10 is yet another side view of the filling machine according to thepresent invention showing the motion thereof; and

FIG. 11 is still another side view of the filling machine according tothe present invention showing the motion thereof.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

As shown in FIGS. 3, 4 and 5, the disclosure of the present inventionprimarily includes a conveyer 20, a support 25, a first moving unit 30,a first automatic positioning system 35, a second moving unit 40, acontainer-supporting unit 45 and a second automatic positioning system47.

The conveyer 20 conveys a plurality of bottle containers 13 to fillingpositions. A plurality of slots 251 is provided to the support 25 forfixing a plurality of filling heads 26 therein. The filling heads 26 canshift along the slot 251 horizontally for aligning to openings of thecontainers 13 positioned at the filling positions. Each of the fillingheads 26 is communicated to a material supply unit (not shown) by way ofa material-feeding pipe 261 so as to pour a material into the container13. The support 25 is assembled to the first moving unit 30. The firstmoving unit 30 is assembled to a first upright brace set 31 in aslidable way. The brace set 31 is fixed to a fixing component 90 of thefilling machine. The container-supporting unit 45 is assembled to thesecond moving unit 40. The second moving unit 40 is assembled to asecond upright brace set 41 in a slidable way. The brace set 41 is fixedto the fixing component 90 of the filling machine.

The first automatic positioning system 35 controls the first moving unit30 to shift along the first upright brace set 31 and to position at adesired position. The desired position may be a null position (A) (asshown in FIG. 5) where the feeding nozzle 262 of the filling head 26 ispositioned upper than the opening of the container 13, a fillinglowstand (L) (as shown in FIG. 6) where the feeding nozzle 262 insertsinto the container 13 and approaches the bottom of the container 13, anda filling highstand (H) (as shown in FIG. 7). The null position (A)allows the conveyer 20 to convey the container 13 to the fillinglocation without clashing with the feeding nozzle 262. The fillinglowstand (L) is an initial position of the filling operation.

The second automatic positioning system 47 controls the second movingunit 40 to shift along the second brace set 41 and to position at adesired position. The desired position may be an initial position (C)(as shown in FIG. 8) where the container-supporting unit 45 ispositioned slightly upper than the opening of the container 13, and asupporting position (D) (as shown in FIG. 9) where thecontainer-supporting unit 45 can provide a supporting force to thecontainer 13. The initial position (C) allows the conveyer 20 to conveythe container 13 to the filling location without clashing with thecontainer-supporting unit 45. The supporting position (D) allows thecontainer-supporting unit 45 to provide a supporting force to thecontainer 13 so that the container 13 can be supported without tiltingor shaking.

FIGS. 3 through 5 illustrate a transmission 351 and a screw 352 rotatedby the transmission 351 of the first automatic positioning system 35.The first moving unit 30 is assembled to the screw 352 by a nut 32. Thetransmission 351 is deposited at the top of the first brace set 31 andthe screw 352 is fastened to the fixing component 90 of the fillingmachine in a pivotable way. Thereby, the screw 352 can be rotated tomake the first moving unit 30 move along the first brace set 31vertically. Also shown in the figures are a transmission 471 and a screw472 rotated by the transmission 471 of the second automatic positioningsystem 47. The second moving unit 40 is assembled to the screw 472 by anut 42. The transmission 471 is deposited at the top of the second setupright brace 41 and the screw 472 is fastened to the fixing component90 of the filling machine in a pivotable way. Thereby, the screw 472 canbe rotated to make the second moving unit 40 move along the second braceset 41 vertically. The first and second automatic positioning systems35, 47 both involve a central digital control system (not shown), whichimplements an embedded program to control the first and second automaticpositioning systems 35, 47 to operate according to commands thereof.

The transmissions 351, 471 of the first and second automatic positioningsystems 35, 47 are both motors. More particularly, the motor is one withits number of turns of rotation controllable, e.g. a stepping motor or aservo motor. Thereupon, the transmissions 351 can set the null position(A), filling lowstand (L) and filling highstand (H), so as to positionthe support 25 at these positions. However, a linear motor, acombination of a normal motor and an optical linear scale, magneticscale, or a limit switch, or a combination of a motor and a decoder maybe implemented to realize the first automatic positioning systems 35. Ifa stepping motor, a servo motor or a speed-control motor is used, therising speed where the support 25 rises to the filling highstand (H)from the filling lowstand (L) may be set as constant or withmultiple-phased variation.

FIGS. 5, 6 and 7 show the filling operation of the aforesaid deviceapplied to a short wide-mouth container 18. In FIG. 5, the container 18is positioned at the filling position and the first automaticpositioning system 35 positions the support 25 at the desired nullposition (A) so that the container 18 can be conveyed to the fillingposition without clashing with the feeding nozzle 261. Referring to FIG.6, to prepare for the filling operation, the first automatic positioningsystem 35 controls the support 25 to descend to the filling lowstand (L)and then the feeding nozzle 261 starts to pour the material into thecontainer 18. As shown in FIG. 7, during filling operation, the firstautomatic positioning system 35 controls the support 25 to rise to thefilling highstand (H) with a constant rising speed. In the drawings, thecontainer 18 is one with a consistent diameter, so the constantmaterial-feeding speed makes the water level in the container rise witha correspondingly constant rising speed. Hence, when the rising speedwhere the support rises to the point H from the point L is constant, thefeeding nozzle 262 can be kept from departing from the liquid surface ofthe material and material shall not have lather generated during thefilling operation.

FIGS. 8 through 11 depict the filling operation of the aforesaid deviceapplied to a tall narrow-mouth container 19 with an inconsistentdiameter. In FIG. 8, the container 19 is positioned at the fillingposition and the first automatic positioning system 35 positions thesupport 25 at the desired null position (A1) so that the container 19can be conveyed to the filling position without clashing with thefeeding nozzle 261. Referring to FIG. 9, to prepare for the fillingoperation, the first automatic positioning system 35 controls thesupport 25 to descend to the filling lowstand (L1) and the feedingnozzle 261 starts to pour the material into the container 19. As shownin FIG. 10, during the filling operation, the first automaticpositioning system 35 controls the support 25 to rise to the fillinghighstand (H1) (as shown in FIG. 11) with a phased-variational speedvaried with the variation of the diameter of the container 19. Forexample, according to the variation of the diameter of the container 19,a first stage St, a second stage S2 and the third stage S3 are defined.It is obvious that the diameter of the container 19 corresponding to thesecond stage S2 is the smallest, so the first automatic positioningsystem 35 may control the support 25 to rise with a rising speedrelatively higher than those of the first and third stages S1, S3.Thereupon, during the filling operation, the feeding nozzle 261 shallnot depart from the liquid surface of the material and therefore, thematerial will not have lather generated during the filling operation.

Moreover, FIGS. 8 to 11 further provide the motions of the secondautomatic positioning system 47, the second moving unit 40 and thecontainer-supporting unit 45. Referring to FIG. 8, the container 19 ispositioned at the filling position and the second automatic positioningsystem 47 positions the container-supporting unit 45 at a desiredinitial position (C) so that the container 13 can be conveyed to thefilling position without clashing with the feeding nozzle 45. As shownin FIGS. 9, 10 and 11, during the filling operation, the secondautomatic positioning system 47 controls the container-supporting unit45 to descend to a position where the container-supporting unit 45supports the container 19 to prevent the container 19 from tilting orshaking.

The present invention implements the central digital control system tocontrol the first automatic positioning system 35 so as to control therising speed of the filling head 26 and the material-feeding speed. Forinstance, at an initial stage of the filling operation, when the feedingnozzle 262 of the filling head is adjacent to the bottom of the bottle,it feeds the material in a relatively slower material-feeding speed.Later, when the feeding nozzle 262 is immerged in the material, thematerial-feeding speed and the rising speed of the filling head 26 canbe enlarged so as to ensure that no lather-occurs in the material.

Although a particular embodiment of the invention has been described indetail for purposes of illustration, it will be understood by one ofordinary skill in the art that numerous variations will be possible tothe disclosed embodiments without going outside the scope of theinvention as disclosed in the claims.

1. An automatic positioning system for a filling device of a filling machine, wherein the filling device has a plurality of filling head mounted on a support to fill a plurality of containers positioned on filling positions with a material, comprising: a first automatic positioning system for controlling the support to shift along a vertical linear route to and fro; positioning the support at a desired position in the linear route wherein the desired position includes a null position where a feeding nozzle of the filling head is positioned slightly upper than an opening of the container, a filling lowstand where the feeding nozzle inserts into the container and approaches the bottom of the container, and a filling highstand; and controlling a rising speed where the support rises to the filling highstand from the filling lowstand.
 2. The automatic positioning system of claim 1, wherein the rising speed is constant or phased-variational.
 3. The automatic positioning system of claim 1 further comprising a second automatic positioning system for controlling a container-supporting unit to shift along a linear route to and fro; positioning the container-supporting unit at a desired position in the linear route, wherein the desired position includes an initial position where the container-supporting unit evades the container and a supporting position; and providing a supporting force to the container.
 4. An automatic positioning system for a filling device of a filling machine, wherein the filling device has a plurality of filling head mounted on a support to fill a plurality of containers positioned on filling positions with a material, comprising: a first moving unit assembled to a first upright brace set in a slidable way while the brace set is fixed to the a fixing component of the filling machine wherein the support is fixed to the first moving unit; a first automatic positioning system for controlling the first moving unit to shift along the brace set, positioning the first moving unit at a desired position wherein the desired position includes a null position where a feeding nozzle of the filling head is positioned slightly upper than an opening of the container, a filling lowstand where the feeding nozzle inserts into the container and approaches the bottom of the container, and a filling highstand, and controlling a rising speed where the support rise to the filling highstand from the filling lowstand.
 5. The automatic positioning system of claim 4, wherein the rising speed is constant or phased-variational.
 6. The automatic positioning system of claim 4, wherein the first automatic positioning system comprises a transmission and a screw rotated by the transmission wherein the first moving unit is assembled to the screw and the transmission is deposited at the top of the first brace set while the screw is fastened to the fixing component of the filling machine in a pivotable way.
 7. The automatic positioning system of claim 6, wherein the transmission of the first automatic positioning system is a stepping motor or a servo motor.
 8. The automatic positioning system of claim 4, wherein the first automatic positioning system is, a combination of a normal motor and an optical linear scale, a magnetic scale, or a limit switch, or a combination of a motor and a decoder.
 9. The automatic positioning system of claim 4, wherein the first automatic positioning system is a linear motor.
 10. The automatic positioning system of claim 4, further comprising a second automatic positioning system, which is deposited on the second brace set while the brace set is fixed to a fixing component of the filling machine, a container-supporting unit, which is fixed to the second moving unit, a second automatic positioning system, which controls the second moving unit to shift along the second brace set and positions the second brace set at a desire position wherein the desired position includes an initial position where the container-supporting unit evades the container and a supporting position where the container-supporting unit provides a supporting force to the container.
 11. The automatic positioning system of claim 10, wherein the second automatic positioning system comprises a transmission and a screw rotated by the transmission wherein the second moving unit is assembled to the screw and the transmission is deposited at the top of the second brace set while the screw is fastened to the fixing component of the filling machine in a pivotable way.
 12. The automatic positioning system of claim 11, wherein the transmission of the second automatic positioning system is a stepping motor or a servo motor.
 13. The automatic positioning system of claim 10, wherein the second automatic positioning system is, a combination of a normal motor and an optical linear scale, magnetic scale, or a limit switch, or a combination of a motor and a decoder.
 14. The automatic positioning system of claim 10, wherein the second automatic positioning system is a linear motor.
 15. An automatic positioning system for a filling device of a filling machine, wherein the filling device has a plurality of filling head mounted on a support to fill a plurality of containers positioned on filling positions with a material, comprising: a first moving unit assembled to a first upright brace set in a slidable way and the brace set is fixed to a fixing component of the filling machine wherein the support is assembled to the first moving unit; a first automatic positioning system for controlling the first moving unit to shift along the brace set, positioning the support at a desired position wherein the desired position includes a null position where a feeding nozzle of the filling head is positioned slight upper than the opening of the container, a filling lowstand where the feeding nozzle inserts into the container and approaches the bottom of the container, and a filling highstand, and controlling a rising speed where the support rises to the filling highstand from the filling lowstand; a second moving unit assembled to a second upright brace set in a slidable way while the brace set is fixed to the fixing component of the filling machine; a container-supporting unit which is fixed to the second moving unit; and a second automatic positioning system for controlling the second moving unit to shift along the second brace set, and positioning the second moving unit at a desire position wherein the desired position includes an container-supporting unit at a desired position along the linear route, wherein the desired position includes an initial position where the container-supporting unit evades the container and a supporting position where the container-supporting unit provides a supporting force to the container.
 16. The automatic positioning system of claim 15, wherein the rising speed is constant or phased-variational. 